Century Properties 2011 income up 382%

MANILA, Philippines – Century Properties Group, the real estate firm behind the new high-end Trump Tower Manila, realized a 382% increase in net income to P866 million from P180 million in 2010, amid high demand for high- and mid-rise condominiums from abroad despite the global economic slowdown.

In 2011, international clients were responsible for 67% of pre-sales, snatching up 4,081 units worth a total of P12.28 billion. Chief Financial Officer Jose Carlo R. Antonio, whose family is behind Century Properties, saw the numbers as confirmation that their business strategy to focus on high-quality projects and global citizens was working.

More than half of their business comes from abroad. Of their international clients Antonio said roughly 15% came from Europe, while the majority came from Asia, especially from Singapore and Hong Kong.

He stressed the importance of overseas Filipinos who had proved particularly resilient and continued to snap up units. Roughly 80% of their collections are in the Philippines. Meaning the majority of clients have a Philippine bank account or open one to fund their units via peso.

“Sometimes the market sentiment is different from actuality and our actual results are positive and upbeat despite all of the negative news abroad, which is reflective of our (high-end and mid-level) peers in industry,” said Antonio.

Unbooked 2011 profits and projects in sight

Antonio pointed out that their growth in 2011 had been driven by take-up in the affordable Azure Urban Resort in Paranaque City and the middle-income Gramercy Residences in Makati.

But he said more growth would come after pre-sales were booked.

Antonio said the Azure was an example where 54% of units were pre sold but only P1 billion of revenue was booked. The P10 billion worth of units had been pre-sold as of March 2012 still are unbooked in the 2011 net income because of accounting practices.

Antonio said Century Properties would continue to expand into the affordable market with 2 projects in Quezon city, a residential project on Commonwealth and a mixed use development in Novaliches. In the future he said they would offer a majority of affordable developments.

Master planning has also begun for a development in Batulao, Batangas that would appeal to tourists and retirees.

Trumping the economy in 2012

Century expect profits to keep rolling in next year with at minimum a 100% increase in net income.

In just the first 3 months of 2012, Century sold 812 units for P5.3 billion.

The majority of those sales were in the luxury sector followed by the middle income market with 42% and 41% respectively.

The firm’s flagship 56-story skyscraper in Makati, the Trump Tower Manila, has pre-sold over 60% of its nearly 200 units as of April 16.

“The minimum sales value there is P9 million” but said Antonio, “there high net worth people despite the recession, who are the likely buyers of Trump Tower.”

At the middle income Gramercy Residences in Makati 95% of the units have been sold as of April 16 and the project is due for completion in 2012.

Since the firm is flush with cash, it’s not surprising that they are hiking up capital spending. Antonio said, “[capital expenditure] is roughly P7 billion for 2012 and ramping up to P8 billion for 2013 and this will be spent on our current master plans.” – Rappler.com